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The agreement does not contain a child support provision for
Michael. The agreement further states that petitioner and Ms.
Lowe would each have joint custody of Michael, with primary
physical custody to Ms. Lowe.
During the 2000 taxable year, Michael was in the physical
custody of Ms. Lowe, and in accordance with the agreement,
petitioner made payments totaling $6,500 to her (the payments).
On his timely filed 2000 Federal income tax return,
petitioner claimed an alimony deduction for the payments. In the
notice of deficiency, respondent disallowed the alimony deduction
upon the ground that the payments represent nondeductible child
support.
Discussion1
Section 215(a) allows an individual a deduction for alimony
paid during the taxable year. In general, a payment constitutes
alimony within the meaning of section 215 if the payment is made
in cash and meets the following four criteria: (1) Such payment
is received by (or on behalf of) a spouse under a divorce or
separation instrument, (2) the divorce or separation instrument
does not designate such payment as a payment which is not
includable in gross income under this section and not allowable
as a deduction under section 215, (3) in the case of an
1 Because there are no disputes with respect to any factual
issues in this case, we need not consider the application of sec.
7491(a). Higbee v. Commissioner, 116 T.C. 438 (2001).
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